Going Under

by Justina Robson

Book Overview

Having escaped the grasp of the world of demons, Lila Black is looking forward to some well-earned rest but no good deeds go unpunished. The sleight of hand operating so many of the dark machineries... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1591026504
• ISBN13: 9781591026501
• Release Date: September 2008
• Publisher: Pyr
• Length: 341 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

My favorite of the series thus far

Plot Summary: Lila Black, my favorite angst-ridden cyborg is back, along with a whole host of supernatural buddies. She's vacationing in Demonia, but she's not having such a great time because everyone wants to duel with her, and really, they're no match, so she feels like it's just demons to the slaughter. Lila is almost relieved when her fey buddy Malachi drops by to tell her that Otopia is being overrun by a mothkin, and the only way to clean her world up is to visit Faerie, the dark, dangerous world down under. Oh yeah, and the humans who built Lila are starting to get nasty and they're pulling out their remote controls to zap her back in line with the Agency's goals. I can't believe this is only the third book in this series, because I'm sitting here with the sensation that I've read ten books in the Quantum Gravity Series. Justina Robson packs so much drama and action into each book that I feel stuffed to the gills, and I mean that in a good way. Fantasy novels should feel epic, and since this is a sci-fi/fantasy hybrid, it has a double duty to please its fans with a larger-than-life world. I think Going Under is my favorite book in the series thus far, because it finally got serious, and Lila stopped being such a nutcase. Don't get me wrong, she still has oodles of issues to deal with, but I sense a new maturity in her that is very welcome. Is it too much of a spoiler to say that the grim reaper cuts a wide swath through this installment? Too late, I can't take it back, but don't worry, I won't spill anymore. There is a lot of loss that takes place, but there's enough ambiguity that I haven't lost all hope for some reunions in the next story. The characters are all wonderfully, fully-formed beings, with my personal favorite being the little demon imp named Thingamajig. Isn't that a great name? I love it. And can I just say that the way Lila's body keeps evolving is fan-freaking-tastic? Every page holds a new, unpredictable surprise, and that's why I keep reading. Chasing the Dragon (Quantum Gravity, Book 4) is the last published novel in the Quantum Gravity series thus far, however Ms. Robson's website does say that she's working on book five now.

Best of the series so far

In GOING UNDER, cyborg hero Lila Black of Otopia, formerly Earth, continues her quest to emerge from her personal Hell (see SELLING OUT); take whatever steps are necessary to locate and destroy -- or render harmless -- the boxes that might let the spy agency that created her take control of her body; and learn the truth about the technologies that were used to make her what she is today. All in all, it's a typical fantasy/sci-fi coming of age story :). Need I mention that sometime between SELLING OUT and GOING UNDER she married half-elf/half-demon rock star Zal and demon assassin Teazle? Or that an invasion of Mothkin is plaguing Otopia and demanding her attention? As in KEEPING IT REAL, the central dilemma of GOING UNDER does not emerge until the middle of the novel, when Lila and Zal find themselves cast deep into coldest, most dangerous Faery. To survive they must either avoid or thwart Lost Jack, a faery of immense power, and it doesn't look likely they will be able to do either. It's here that GOING UNDER connects most clearly to conventional high fantasy, as Lila and Zal and friends bump into the Lord of the Hunt, someone who may or may not be Queen Mab, etc. Nevertheless, GOING UNDER maintains the cyberpunkish edge of the earlier books and continues to develop the sci-fi cosmology of the Otopian universe. Beyond the action and the sci-fi sheen of the series, one of its strengths is the ongoing dialog within Lila and between she and her companions about who she is. Is she somebody extraordinary, or simply a regular person thrown into extraordinary situations? Are her self-doubts justified, or just self-delusion, denial, and useless self-indulgence? Is she a doer of good, an agent of the Light (and we see clearly what apparently-cynical Robson thinks of such people late in the novel), a disloyal selfish child, as some in the agency think, or is she just herself? In many novels, these kinds of ruminations are often tedious and forced and consist mainly of babbling. Robson is wise and kind enough, I guess, to pull this off without awkwardness or (too much) sentimentality. While according to one review, the "real" action doesn't start going until halfway through the book, I found all of it engaging and worthwhile. There were certainly elements that didn't quite make sense -- explain to me again why Teazle led them on that wild goose chase that got a close friend killed? -- and bits that could have been left out, but nevertheless I thought this was the most solid entry in the series so far.

Great Series!

I have just finished the first three Quantum Gravity books and I have pre-ordered the fourth. Justina Robson is a marvel. In 40 years of reading SF, very few authors have delighted me or kept me guessing about what was going to happen next as Robson. Robson hasn't so much blended SF and fantasy tropes as she's smashed them together in a supercollider. She has filled her story with myth, legend, deep metaphysical exploration, gestalt psychology, scientific speculation and sweet sexuality without slowing down the roller coaster ride.

Non-Stop Thrill Ride

This book is an excellent continuation of a fantastic series. It answers many questions left from the previous book, while leaving you hanging for yet another sequel. Ending up deep within ancient Fairy, left to solve an ancient quest, many of our favorite characters come face to face with pasts they had long ago left behind. Yet another nonstop, heart pumping, action and drama filled episode in the life of Lila Black, unwilling superheroine extraordinaire.

A very special dark urban fantasy

Males are a pain in her metallic butt so special agent Lila Black thinks, but women even ones with robotic gizmos inside her body needs these blackguards though she is not sure why at the moment. Still Lila wonders if two spouses is one, two or three too many as she and her mates Zal the elf-lord and Teazle the demon argue with her; while inside her chest resides whatever is mentally left of the deceased elven necromancer Tath also bickering with her. Dispatching the assassins as a side activity, Lila and her horde travel to the land of the fae on what she assumes is a simple mission though anything involving fairies is by definition convoluted. She soon finds herself digging deep past the best beer in the world into the ooze of the realm where only hideous blood thirsty charlatans reside. To complete her mission and escape alive, she must navigate the ruses and pranks of those who abet her by trying to kill her and her retinue. Although the heroine's whining about males causing her hemorrhoids (does prove artificially intelligent beings understand men) is overly extended, fans of the third Quantum Gravity saga (see KEEPING IT REAL and SELLING OUT) will enjoy Lila's latest escapades. The story line picks up about a third of the way in when the lead protagonist begins her quest into a realm no one escapes from. Readers will relish the twisted mission as the fairy glamor realm gives way to a dark despairing repulsiveness. Harriet Klausner